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Catholic Extension in America

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1909

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 1.

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Catholic Extension in America

By ALLEN MOON

ALLEN MOON
About three years ago there was organized by the Catholic clergy of the United States what is known as the Catholic Church Extension Society of the United States. This society has grown in membership and influence with great rapidity. Early in the year 1908 the board of governors of the society sent out a call for the First American Catholic Missionary Congress of America, to be held in Chicago, Nov. 15-18, 1908.
Archbishop Quigley, of Chicago, in speaking at the opening of the congress, stated that “the holy father has taken the church in America from its position of dependency, and given it its full canonical rights,” giving this as a reason for the organization and work of the society. He then proceeded to outline the work of the Catholic Extension Society as follows:—
“The Church Extension Society devotes its attention primarily to the neglected Catholics of our own land. It aims to supply churches and priests to those who need them; it aims to stop the leakage which we have been powerless to prevent in the past; it aims, also, to develop that true missionary spirit which reaches out to the ends of the earth.
“It is the hope of many earnest Christians that some day the church in this country will have reached that stage of growth when it will do more than any other country in the world, in the foreign mission field. We are God’s favorite nation, in many ways. We have the wealth, the initiative, the energy, and we believe that the time is here when this wealth, this initiative, and this energy can be turned to good account in the solving of all those problems to which reference has been made. This congress will, at least, be a beginning; and beginnings are always important. The cause is certainly a holy one.
“We deem it an honor to have had a share in promoting this great undertaking, and we cordially welcome the hierarchy, the clergy, and the laity to its deliberations.”
Information regarding this work had been laid before Pope Pius X, and a letter from the pope to Cardinal Gibbons was introduced to the congress in the following language:—
“The following apostolic letter has been received by Cardinal Gibbons from His Holiness Pius X, and it carries more than ordinary interest because it is the seal of Rome’s approbation on a new and specially vigorous work that is reaping great results for the church in the United States.”
Following is an extract from the letter referred to:—
“BELOVED SON: Health and the Apostolic Benediction.
“Truly solicitous as we are concerning all measures which may contribute to the progress of the church among the nations, we have received with joy the information that, in the United States of America, there are very many who are every day more powerfully drawn to the study of the doctrines of the Catholic Church by the labors of zealous missionaries, especially of those who have been trained at the Apostolic Mission House at the University in Washington.
“Accordingly, let these devoted missionaries know that their work and method correspond entirely to the desire and the hope of the Apostolic See, and strengthened by the testimony ofour approbation, let them continue their labors, always remembering that the work of the missionary bands may be extended to each and every diocese, and be multiplied therein. God will give the increase to those who sow with zeal the seed of the Word in the vineyard of the Lord, and he will repay with a most joyful harvest in this life, and an eternal reward in the next, the labors of the faithful workers.
“As a pledge of these blessings, and as witness of our paternal benevolence, we very lovingly bestow our apostolic blessing on you, our beloved son, on the above-mentioned laborers and their co-adjutors, and on all who attend these fruitful gatherings.
“Given at Rome at the See of Peter on the fifth day of the month of September, 1908, in the sixth year of our pontificate.                                     PIUS X.”
In the above, reference is made to the Catholic University at Washington and its work of training missionary priests. Following is a statement of its work so far:—
“The missionaries are grouped into thirty diocesan bands, and they are constantly engaged in giving missions to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. During the existence of this mission movement fifteen hundred missions have been given to Catholics in which over two million communions have been distributed. Besides the missions given to Catholics, over three thousand missions have been given to non-Catholics, and a great host of our separated brethren have had the truths of our Catholic faith fairly and squarely presented to them.
“And converts, too, have been made. The most reliable statistics indicate that during the year 1906 there were twenty-five thousand and forty-six converts received into the church, largely the result of these missions to non-Catholics.
“These are some of the direct results of the activity of the mission movement at the Apostolic Mission House, but besides these direct results, the mission movement has had the effect of stirring up other missionary organizations, awakening the enthusiasm of a multitude of priests, and giving a missionary character to parochial activities all over the country.”
Archbishop Quigley, of Chicago, having been a leading spirit in the organization and work of the Church Extension Society, and having visited the pope in the interest of the society, received a letter from Pius X, which was presented to the congress, from which the following is an extract:—
“VENERABLE BROTHER: Health and the Apostolic Benediction.
“The statement which you brought to us on your recent visit to Rome, concerning the Catholic Church Extension Society of the United States of America, whose administrator is so ably assisted by your counsels, has been read by us with the greatest pleasure. You asked us to approve this society of our authority, and to enrich it with pontifical indulgences.
“We have good reason, therefore, to commend your salutary industry, and to heartily congratulate you on the progress of your labors. Moreover, we have determined to grant you, as you request, the support of our authority, in order that the work happily begun may be prosecuted with greater alacrity, and that many of the faithful may be induced to co-operate therein.
“Wherefore, by these presents, we approve and ratify your society, and grant the subjoined indulgences:—
“I. St. Philip Neri shall be the heavenly patron of the society.
“II. A plenary indulgence, to each member, on the day of admission, on the feasts of St. Philip Neri, St. Francis de Sales, St. Rose of Lima, the holy apostles, and at the hour of death.
“III. To every member of the society an indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines for every good work done in the interests of the society.
“IV. An indulgence of three hundred days, to all the members as often as they piously recite the formula: ‘St. Philip, pray for us.’
“V. The above indulgences, plenary and partial, may be applied to the souls in purgatory.
“VI. Priests who are moderators or directors of the society may enjoy a privileged altar three times a week; founders and life members, six times a week.
“These privileges by us conceded, we wish to be perpetual, all things to the contrary notwithstanding. Although the assistance of divine grace can not be wanting to those who, like yourself, thus labor for religion and the good of souls, nevertheless, we earnestly pray that the graces of God may flow down upon you in greatest abundance. As an earnest of these, and as a token of our special good-will to you, venerable brother, and to the rest of our venerable brethren and beloved sons, who, together with you, direct the society, and likewise to all those who are or shall become members or promoters of this society, we most lovingly impart our apostolic benediction.
“PIUS X.”
Thus it is clearly apparent that the movement of Catholics to spread Catholic doctrines throughout the United States has not alone the approval of the head of the church, but is encouraged by the utmost indulgence and blessing of the pope, which is accepted as divine, and will no doubt add great impetus to the movement.
The First American Catholic Missionary Congress was composed of more than fifteen hundred delegates, including the papal delegate at Washington as the special representative of the pope, seventy-five or more archbishops and bishops, and hundreds of the clergy from all parts of the United States. The meetings of the congress were held in the First Regiment Armory, and were attended by thousands besides the delegates.
The street parade on the first day of the congress was designed as a most impressive pageant. It was participated in by a vast array of clergy in sacerdotal robes, with a military escort, a fitting symbol of the faith of the church in the blending of the civil and the religious.
The work outlined for the society includes the establishment of a special missionary college for the training of mission priests, for which more than one million dollars has been subscribed; the establishment of many mission homes for the training of other mission workers; the erection of missionary chapels in every community not now occupied by the church; the colonization of Catholic emigrants in the vicinity of these chapels, to form the nucleus of a future congregation, and to aid in extending the influence of the church; the establishment of city missions among the poorer classes of all nationalities; and also schools for the education of the children of non-Catholics, as well as hospitals for the care of the sick of all classes and religions. And above all, the society proposes to utilize, in large measure, the public press, which is regarded as one of the most efficient means for the upbuilding of the church. These were among the subjects discussed in papers before the congress, and all received hearty approval by the delegates.
In speaking of the future of this country, a favorite expression of many speakers was, the coming Catholic America. One said: “The protest of the Reformer of three hundred years ago is fast dying out; let us become nationalized, and let us support the priesthood in the work of missionizing the nation. The church is the great uplifter of the races and languages of the world; and as the church once united all the nations of Europe in one body, so again the mission of the church is to unite all nations of mankind in one.”
The opinion was freely expressed that the victory for the church was already won in the land of the Reformer, and the present missionary movement in the United States will accomplish the unification of this great nation. “The church is the kingdom of Christ on earth,” said one speaker; “and in the end there will be only one shepherd.”
A great deal of emphasis was given to the expression that the colonization of emigrants from the Old World was for civic as well as religious purposes. Laymen were urged to make large contributions to the church for the work outlined in these papers.
It remained for the last speaker of the last evening of the congress to fully develop the plans of the society. He said: “The church is the true ally of the state; they can not be separated—never, so long as democratic governments are relied upon to rule men! It is true that their organizations may be separate, but they are inherently inseparable and interdependent. It is true that the state needs no longer the support of the church. But under democratic government the church must ever be the mainstay of the state. It is time that there should be a plain, clear, unmistakable definition of the Catholic position on this important point.” More was said of like import.
Protestants who are demanding religious legislation by Congress, would do well to stop and consider whether they are willing for the execution of these religious measures to fall into the hands of the power that once destroyed nations in the interest of its own establishment. Is the spirit of the Reformer indeed dead?
South Bend, Ind.